Ky. police: Remains are of woman who was scalped

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. (AP) — Kentucky State Police say human remains found about a year ago belonged to a woman of Native American descent who appears to have been scalped.

Detective Chad Winn told The Associated Press that the case is being investigated as a possible hate crime. Winn says forensic examiners found markings on the skull consistent with a scalping. He says forensic investigators determined the woman was of Native American descent based on criteria such as bone structure.

College students searching for a rare tree stumbled across the remains in August 2011. A search by investigators turned up bones scattered in a culvert over a 100-foot area.

Winn says forensic examiners determined that the woman was between 20 and 50 years old and had been killed by a shotgun blast between one and 15 years ago.